Ladies, are you careful about those you allow to teach and influence you, especially if they are saying they teach the Bible? We should be. The Bible cautions us to beware of “false teachers” and deception. If we want to wisely discern, here are 10 questions we should ask before reading, or following, a woman who claims to teach the Bible: What is her salvation testimony? Does she faithfully attend a local church? If so, what type of church is it, and what doctrines does she believe? Does she meet the qualifications given in Titus 2:1-3? Does she believe that biblical truths are relevan ..read more

I often get requests for recommendations for offertory or special instrumental books. I am going to share a few posts about this, since there are a lot of options out there. This post will be specifically for moderate/intermediate/early advanced pianists. I may add a second post for this level at a later time. Before I give you my recommendations, let me share a few things that are good guidelines for offertories. These aren’t hard and fast rules, but I believe they will be helpful to you and your church. 1. Choose an offertory that is familiar. While not everyone is going to know every song ..read more

Choruses can be a powerful and effective tool for a church music ministry. While there has been a rise in recent years of choruses that are shallow or contemporary in nature, that should not cause us to ignore the benefits that sound, doctrinal choruses can have. Because they are not lengthy songs, choruses are easy to teach and easy to learn. They are a wonderful way to rehearse simple truths in a way that is enjoyable and memorable. We have used choruses for many years in our church. Here are some of the ways we have used them: Choir Openers Special Meetings – revivals, missions conferences ..read more

I was asked a few weeks ago if I would consider writing a song on the phrase, “That I May Know Him.”  This is from a beautiful, and familiar, passage of Scripture. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of G ..read more

The Psalm 100 Mini-Challenge 7 Days to a More Thankful Heart This time of year encourages us to stop and think a little more about being thankful, and that is a good thing, but we all know that thankfulness should be more than something we do a few days of the year, or even one month of the year. If you’re like me, unless you make a conscious commitment and effort, it’s easy to have good intentions that never translate into good actions. You may also be like me if you sometimes feel a little discouraged or even overwhelmed when it comes to trying to take practical action on those good intenti ..read more

Most of the lyrics to this song were written in 1897 by Jessie Rose Gates. I first heard these beautiful words in the testimony of missionary Darlene Deibler Rose. If you have never read her book, Evidence Not Seen, or heard her testimony, I encourage you to do so. The beautiful words to this song made such an impression on me that I decided a few years ago to try to set them to music. In order to fit the melody, some additional lyrics were needed, so I wrote and added the last “There is a peace…” stanza. I hope this song will comfort and encourage the hearts of many who may have experienced s ..read more

This song began with just a few lines that I jotted down in a sermon notebook. “Revive me, Lord. Stir my heart anew. Revive me, Lord. Make me more like You. Reveal my sin. Restore my joy. Refine me with your fire. And revive me, Lord, this is my desire.” I worked on it for a little while, but then set it aside. I came across it a couple years later while going back through old journals. I got it back out and began to work on the verses again. This time, both the words and the melody seemed to come more easily. The first verse is taken from Psalm 51: “I come before You now to make confession ..read more

I am very blessed to be the wife of a pastor, the daughter of a missionary, the sister of a missionary pastor, and the granddaughter of a missionary. As a rather astonished man once told me when I shared how many preacher relatives I had, “Lady, that’s a whole lotta church!” It is far more than a lot of church. It is a beautiful spiritual heritage, one that has helped to make me the person I am today. October is “Pastor Appreciation Month.” I am thankful that someone has designated a special time for remembering our pastors And spiritual leaders, but I am reminded that the Bible does not limi ..read more

Several years ago, after a week of Vacation Bible School, I was challenged by Bro. Howard Caldwell (Seeing Truth Ministries) to write a song about the importance of children coming to Jesus, with a specific focus on Matthew 18. This topic is near to my heart, and I began to study and pray about writing this song. I trusted Christ as my Savior at a church youth event when I was four years old. There was no pressure, just a simple invitation after a brief devotion. Although my parents were there, when I went forward, a lady from our church took me to a quiet place to talk to me. I knew the stor ..read more

Throughout this week and next, I want to share a little bit about each of the songs in my new songbook. Some of these are songs I wrote many years ago, and some are much more recent. As I look back, I find in each song a truth the Lord has tried to teach me, and has used to challenge, comfort, or encourage me. It is my hope that these songs will do the same for you. This first song is one of my earliest. I wrote this when I was 17 or 18 years old, and it is still a favorite of mine. I have loved Psalm 37:4 since I was just a little girl. When I was a teenager, I began to really consider ..read more